Reagan Says Education Tops Americans' Agenda

Repeating themes that he outlined in his State of the Union address,
President Reagan told the National Association of Secondary School
Principals that his administration had "put education at the top of the
American agenda" and was responsible for a wave of reform initiatives
in state education systems.

The President told the principals attending their annual meeting in
Las Vegas last week that they bore an "enormous responsibility" for
improving the country's schools and that they did not need great
infusions of new money to do the job.

Before the address, nassp officials presented Mr. Reagan with a
birthday cake made in the shape of a little red schoolhouse. Mr. Reagan
celebrated his 73rd birthday last Monday.

Other speakers at the convention included Secretary of Education
Terrel H. Bell; Theodore R. Sizer, author of a study about high schools
that was sponsored in part by the nassp; Maynard Jackson, the former
mayor of Atlanta; and Lou Holtz, the head football coach at the
University of Minnesota.

After saying that "those who constantly call for more money [for
education] are the same people who presided over two decades of
unbroken educational decline," President Reagan reminded the audience
that his fiscal-year 1985 budget includes a $250-million increase in
spending for the Chapter 2 block-grants program. President Reagan said
block grants have increased the authority of state and local officials
by helping them "dig ... from under mountains of red tape."

The President also praised the education-improvement initiatives
undertaken by state legislatures. Noting that all 50 states had formed
some kind of commission to improve education, he said that "we've seen
a grassroots revolution that promises to strengthen every school in the
country."

To underscore the importance of principals in education, the
President cited the work of George McKenna, the principal of George
Washington High School in Los Angeles. Mr. McKenna's insistence on
discipline and accountability, Mr. Reagan said, enabled the school to
develop a good academic program after it had received one of the lowest
academic ratings in the county.

President Reagan repeated his support for prayer in public schools,
tuition tax credits for families who send children to private schools,
the overturn of legal rulings that have hindered school officials'
ability to deal with disciplinary problems, and stiffer academic
requirements in the basic subjects.

Speaking of the opponents of school prayer who say it violates the
Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Mr. Reagan said: "I'm
absolutely determined to see [legalization of school prayer] through,
even though it may be sneered at in some supposedly sophisticated
circles."--ce

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